A young Canadian man jailed in Mauritania on terrorism-related charges says he was beaten into a confession and given no opportunities to defend himself at trial, according to a human rights official who recently visited him.

A young Canadian man who was expected to be released from a West African prison later this year following a conviction on terrorism-related charges now faces the possibility of being held for several more years.

After days of silence, the RCMP finally confirmed Thursday the identities of two Canadians whose bodies were recovered from the site of a terrorist attack in Algeria, and appealed to the public for information about their movements in Canada and abroad.

Federal officials “summoned” the Algerian ambassador in Ottawa to a meeting this week to press for proof that Canadians were involved in the recent deadly attack on a natural gas plant in the north African country, a Canadian government official said Tuesday.